CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The only catch in a bold Browns' draft is they didn't target targets...

The Browns had the courage of their own convictions in the 2012 NFL draft. For better (Trent Richardson, Brandon Weeden) or worse (one wide receiver drafted). They apparently reached the conclusion that outside the first round, the wide receivers available in this draft were a dime a dozen.

What else to make of the Browns going offensive line at No. 37, then trading down for defensive line help at No. 87 before buying into Miami Hurricanes' wideout Travis Benjamin at No. 100. The issue for the Browns is that when your own wide receiver fleet wasn't worth much in 2011, a dime a dozen doesn't look so bad.

They sniffed at Justin Blackmon and went all in on Richardson. After missing out on Baylor's Kendall Wright, they refused to lose Weeden (I am imagining owner Randy Lerner locked in a death stare with Mike Holmgren until the Browns got a quarterback upgrade), then drafted a right tackle to protect him in the second round.

While the rich got richer in the passing game -- Eli Manning got LSU's Rueben Randle, Mark Sanchez got Stephen Hill, Arizona teamed Larry Fitzgerald with Notre Dame's Michael Floyd -- the Browns filled other needs. Five receivers went to other teams after the Browns traded out of the 67th pick before they drafted Benjamin early in the fourth round.

What brought the early excitement of the Browns' draft to a screeching halt was the trade-down and selection of defensive lineman John Hughes in the third round. In the "weaknesses" category on NFL.com's scouting report, he's described as "lazy" and sometimes "shell-shocked" when he gets in the backfield.

It's easy to be negative. (In fact, that's actually the official slogan of Sunday Spin.) To put a positive face on what the Browns didn't do at wide receiver requires a belief in the current group of pass catchers and even more trust in the Browns' talent evaluators. That makes it doubly difficult because of what we've seen in the past two seasons.

Holmgren strongly suggested the wide receivers were under valued and under utilized two seasons ago, so the onus fell on Eric Mangini and Brian Daboll, neither of whom was around last year when the wideouts -- other than Greg Little -- still didn't amount to much for various reasons.

Now what the Browns are saying by drafting Weeden and not significantly adding to the receiving corps in the draft (after ignoring the position in free agency) is that Colt McCoy was part of the problem. That despite all the drops and the other issues specific to the individual wide receivers that McCoy's lack of zip and accuracy held back the offense.

The only other conclusion you can reach is that the Browns are too stubborn for their own good.

To be fair (and Spin occasionally strives for fairness) Heckert didn't cling to the idea of Montario Hardesty (his pick) as the feature back. Holmgren wasn't stubborn enough to mandate another year of McCoy (his pick) being surrounded by better weapons. The Browns deserve credit for that. They recognized their mistakes, their misplaced hopes, and they were in agreement on the remedies.

Everywhere except wide receiver. Where they are either as smart as they think they are or absolutely delusional.

With Daboll gone and McCoy demoted if not following him out the door, there's the only certainty. The Browns have run out of excuses for a passing game that keeps producing failing grades.

SPINOFFS

View full sizeJoshua Gunter, The Plain DealerJim Brown seems to be a bit crustier than usual these days, so don't take it personally, Trent Richardson. For that matter, says Bud Shaw, the opinion of all-time greats has been a bit devalued lately.

Jim Brown told ESPN Radio Richardson looked "ordinary" to him. How so? "The size, the speed, the moves," Brown said.

Whew...so nothing major?...

When Brown made his remarks, some believed his opinion might stem from the grudge he holds against Holmgren. Or that, as the greatest of all time, he simply doesn't think much of any running back not named Jim Brown. To be fair, though, Brown has been complimentary of other running backs. When Brown interviewed Adrian Peterson for the Sporting News in 2009 Brown raved about Peterson, telling him he was "the most complete back I have seen in a long time..."

Whether Brown has an agenda this time or is simply going by what he sees, if the Browns don't get "special" out of the No. 3 pick it'll be the biggest miss since Carmen Policy said of Courtney Brown, "You find someone better and that man is Superman..."

I can't tell you how much I miss the little winemaker...

One thing to keep in mind for fans of the Richardson pick: If great players were automatically and consistently great at evaluating talent, Michael Jordan's Bobcats wouldn't have finished with a 7-59 record...

Bengals' third-round draft pick Mohamed Sanu of Rutgers -- one of the receivers the Browns passed up -- received a phone call just before the Bengals picked in the first round at No. 27 telling him Cincinnati was about to select him.

He celebrated. His family joined in. Turned out it was a prank. The Bengals picked Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler.

When Sanu's agent called the number back, a Rutgers' student admitted it was "just a practical joke."

Funny -- if by "funny" you mean "Mean Girls" times 1,000.

Morris Claiborne dismissed the "4" he reportedly scored on the Wonderlic test. The Dallas Cowboys' corner said Thursday he only looked at 15-18 questions and quit.

Said Claiborne, "I looked at the test, and wasn't any questions about football. I didn't see no point in the test. I'm not in school anymore."

A tough loss for the LSU English Department.

When Pat Shurmur was asked how drafting Weeden would help score touchdowns for a touchdown-challenged offense, he said, "If we don't hand it to Trent then we are going to have Brandon throw it in there..."

Give Shurmur credit, at least, for not asking if that was a trick question...

The Pittsburgh Steelers went big with three of their top four picks -- Stanford guard David DeCastro, Ohio State tackle Mike Adams and Washington nose tackle Alameda Ta'amu. Somebody there must have the crazy idea that the way to build a winner is on the offensive and defensive lines...

Andrew Luck was seen using his $10 flip phone at Thursday night's draft.

So, finally, I'm back in style...

Jacksonville GM Gene Smith said of draft pick Bryan Anger, "He's a player that you feel can upgrade your football team. I think that's an easy decision for me -- to get a starter in the third round."

View full sizeAP fileHe certainly likes his football -- and the Browns, too. Really.

Anger is a punter from Cal. The first punter taken in the Top 100 in 17 years.

If Anger can be defined as a starter when the idea of football is to use the punter as seldom as possible, Browns' third-round pick John Hughes, projected as a backup defensive lineman, should be upgraded from "rotation" player to "permanent fixture."

"I mean, no, because I never shot up a strip club or nothing like that." -- Rams' draft pick Janoris Jenkins on whether he thought head coach Jeff Fisher might've seen another Adam "Pacman" Jones in him.

View full sizeThomas Ondrey, The Plain DealerHe's got a fast release, but isn't too interested in the old fastball anymore.

Still -- with Jenkins having four children with three women and having been cited twice for marijuana possession -- he shouldn't sell himself short. Game on, Pacman.

Good question. It defeats the purpose of enacting player-safety standards when draft picks are routinely concussed in hugs with the commissioner.

"Bud:

"Is it true immediately after being drafted by the Browns, Brandon Weeden applied for his Ohio Buckeye card?" -- Big Al, Aurora

No. Sources assure me he only applied for disability.

"Hey Bud:

"Before you got your job at the PD did you have to sit in front of a supposed 'expert' like Jon Gruden where every sentence you ever wrote was critiqued, then write a variety of run-on sentences and sentence splices in which the 'expert' verbally abused you?" -- Devin, Concord

Actually, if you throw in a ruler across the knuckles, we called that Catholic grade school in the '60s.

"Bud:

"Will Larry Dolan and the Indians sue the Browns for identity theft for being a Cleveland professional sports team that falls in love and reaches for minor-league baseball players?" -- Mark Novak

First-time "You Said It" winners receive a T-shirt from the Mental Floss collection.

"Hey Bud:

"If Brandon Weeden doesn't pan out for the Browns, do you think he'll go back to school and work on 'The Triple Lindy'?" -- Bob H., Medina

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